Samiilenko, Polina

Samiilenko, Polina [Самійленко, Поліна; Samijlenko], b 17 May 1891 in Vasylkiv, Kyiv county, d 1 December 1984 in Kyiv. Actress. She completed study at the Lysenko Music and Drama School in Kyiv (1915–17) and then joined Molodyi Teatr (1916–19) and the Franko New Drama Theater (1920–4). In 1924–33 she worked in various touring theaters in the Odesa, Podilia, and Donbas regions and in the Odesa Derzhdrama (1928–30). In 1934–47 she was a leading actress in the Kyiv Ukrainian Drama Theater. Her roles were mainly heroic-dramatic, including Yaroslavna in Ivan Dniprovsky's Iablunevyi polon (The Apple-Blossom Captivity) and the title role in George Bernard Shaw's Saint Joan. Her memoirs are titled Nezabutni dni horin’ (Unforgettable Days of Ardor).

[This article originally appeared in the Encyclopedia of Ukraine, vol. 4 (1993).]